THAUMETOPOEIDAE. General Topics. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
395 
15. Family: Thaumetopoeidae. 
The systematic position of the Thaumetopoeidae or processionary bombycids had to undergo frequent 
changes, until it was decided to treat them as a separate family. This severance from their former unions, however, 
only took place by degrees and it is not yet definite to this very day. This group which was originally confined 
to very few palaearctic forms steadily increased by additions from other families, such as the Notodontidae, 
Lymantriidae, and Lasiocampidae. We still reckon on discovering some more straggling genera that may in 
future be ranged here, as for instance the Camptoloma which were formerly wrongly classed with the Arctiids, 
which fact we had already pointed out in Vol. 2, p. 75. Also in Vol. X (p. 375) a group of Australian Heterocera, 
viz. Epicoma and Teara, which till then had been mostly listed in the catalogues amongst the Lymantriidae, 
was separated from the latter and added in an ,,aj)penchx“, and E. Strand presumed that they belonged to 
the Thaumetopoeidae. 
To this relatively recent family quite a number of genera have been added even now, which owing 
to certain neural conformities with the Notodontidae were hitherto mostly classed with that family, for instance 
the genera Anaphe and Epanaphe with their allies. It is still uncertain whether these genera and all those ranged 
here are really connected with the palaearctic Thaumetopoeidae and in what relationship they stand to the 
American Tolype (cf. Vol. VI, p. 575—583, pi. 79—81) which have also been associated with them. 
In order to settle this question it is above all necessary to examine biological peculiarities. The nests 
of many African species, particularly of Anaphe infracta and A. venata exhibit a striking resemblance to the 
pouch-like webs of the Thaumetopoea. This likeness is not only external, but the pouches, especially of Anaphe 
infracta, through the fragments of larval hair stored in them, have a similar inflammatory effect upon the skin 
and mucous membranes of white men, whereas the negroes are hardly molested maybe owing to then' highly 
ammoniacal perspiration. As the Australian Teara and Epicoma also spin such pouch-like nests, from which 
they wander to and from their feeding places in well arranged processions, a close relationship of all these 
processionary bombycids may still be probable, although the neuration sometimes corresponds rather better 
to that of the Arctiidae, sometimes more to that of the Notodontidae or Lymantriidae. 
It has been found now that the spun substance the larval nests are composed of can be worked into 
silk; and it is especially the species Anaphe infracta, panda and venata that have been considered for the 
production of silk. For the wholesale trade comes most in question A. infracta, the most suitable food-plant 
of which is stated to be a very common African bush, Bridelia micrantha, which bush develops a considerable 
quantity of leaves during a year. The silk thread chiefly differs from that of the other silk-moths in that it 
exhibits knots at equable intervals; in A. infracta, for instance, they are about one tenth of the length of the 
intermediate piece connecting two knots. Moreover, the thread cannot be reeled on account of its having been 
spun simultaneously by a number of individuals, and the web can only be used for the production of chappe- 
silk. But the so-called ,,wild silk“ obtained from the Anaphe is better fit for some industrial purposes than 
the silk obtained from Sericaria or from Saturniidae. It is of a greater solidity and easier to bleach, but 
its lustre is inferior to that of Asiatic silks. It may therefore be chiefly employed for all kinds of materials, 
as it makes the textile fabrics soft and also very strong (M. Lehmann). Moreover it may be used for sewing- 
silk and a number of other purposes (e. g. the insulation of cables) which will probably only transpire with 
the increase of production which last is quite easy in the greater part of Africa and can be carried out by native 
labour. It may also be used for the manufacture of velvets, whereby the inferior lustre and the cheapness of 
the raw material may lead to a fall in price. 
